


The Haunted Castle

by Mawgon



Category: Hurog - Patricia Briggs
Genre: Darkness level about the same as the original, Eventual Fluff, M/M, Rape mentioned but not shown
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-03-20 11:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3648681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mawgon/pseuds/Mawgon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Shianna accompanies Muellen to Hurog, she expects that it will be a cold, unfriendly place. However, she soon notices that the place seems to be alive - and it likes her.<br/>Oreg lives a miserable life under Fenwick, and avoids Fenwick's sons, for he knows all too well, regardless of how nice they may be as children, one or both of them will become his next cruel master. When Fenwick dies, Oreg does not expect much from Ward, and is pleasantly surprised when Ward decides not to punish him for ... disposing of a man who molested Shianna. Soon, he notices that his feelings of gratitude turn into something much less appropriate, and the only one he can talk to about it is Shianna, to whom he revealed himself in saving her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I read the novel in the German translation. The re-translation might therefore be faulty. Shianna is the woman who is mentioned in the novel as an example of how Oreg acts if he likes someone. The translation says she's a lady's maid or lady-in-waiting. I went with lady's maid as it seems less pretentious, but don't treat her as ordinary servant. Like Axiel, she's somewhat higher in rank, and a lady in her own right.

Oreg didn’t mind the war much. His master was occupied, and wanted to keep him secret, so his duties mainly consisted of keeping Fenwick of Hurog alive. He also liked not being at home, witnessing the births of his master’s sons. One of those sons would become his next tormentor, so it was better not to become too attached to them. He seemed to recall that there were two of them, but couldn’t be sure. His existence was easier if he forgot most of what happened. 

The war ended, and Oreg returned to Hurog, along with his master. There, it was harder to avoid the sons, toddlers by now, but he managed to, most of the time. 

 

Shianna hadn’t been very keen on going to Hurog, but she liked Lady Muellen, and wanted to keep her position as lady’s maid, so she had little choice but to accompany Muellen to the dark and cold northern castle.   
Once there, she found it as cold as she had feared, but there were enough fireplaces to make up for that, and she had the strange feeling that the place ... liked her. Of course her lady did everything to make her feel at home, Stala, Muellen’s bastard half-sister, whom Shianna had always admired for her strength and determination, had come with them, and little Ward was adorable. But it was not that alone.   
It was not until after Tosten’s birth that Shianna could lay a finger on what was different about Hurog. She had always been a bit of a scatterbrain, mislaid her things, and, if her mind was occupied otherwise, walked against doors, walls and columns. It had made her life quite difficult, especially when her lady asked her to fetch something and she couldn’t find it because she herself had mislaid it earlier. In Hurog, this happened ... less. Her things, more often than not, were where she looked for them first. If she walked around the hall, her nose in a book, there never was a column in her way, and the steep staircases never caused her to stumble. Shianna was quite content to sit in the corner of a room, a wall hanging that needed embroidery on her lap, watching Muellen play with her firstborn, Ward. 

When the Hurogmeten returned from the war for good, everything changed. He beat Muellen, and Shianna heard murmurs that he raped the maids. She herself was spared, whether due to her high position or because she was plain, she didn’t know. Shianna knew better than to attribute that fortune to her own efforts of staying away from him; other maids didn’t succeed, although they certainly tried as hard as she did.  
Muellen cried herself to sleep on most nights, and Shianna could offer only little comfort – what good were words and an arm around her lady’s shoulders when the Hurogmeten would abuse her again the next day? He cast a shadow over the whole castle, and Shianna felt unable to be happy even when he was away, hunting. 

Some months after her husband’s return, Muellen showed visible signs of pregnancy. “I hope it is a girl this time”, she often said. “I would like to have a daughter.”

 

Oreg could only agree with that. A girl he would be able to love and take care of, a girl would not grow up to become his next cruel master. 

When labour set in, and the lady was confined to her bed, he concentrated his senses on listening to what the lady’s maid said. Just in case. Few women had ever died in childbirth in Hurog. Magic healing exhausted him, but often, it was not much. Just stop some bleeding here, induce some contractions there. Sometime he wondered whether the women whose lives he preserved wouldn’t be better off dead, but it just seemed so cruel to let them die. 

This time, there was nothing that alarmed him. Sure, there were cries, there almost always were, but the maid didn’t seem too distressed, and the midwife sounded rather cheerful ...

“You have a daughter!”

Oreg smiled. Finally, a girl. 

He would spend hours sitting beside the cradle, rocking it with the slightest of movements, and watch the little girl smile. It soon became obvious that there was something wrong with little Ciarra – she didn’t cry like a normal baby would, seemed almost afraid of calling attention to herself, and would only make very quiet noises.   
Oreg had nothing to do at nights, and his cursed existence didn’t require sleep, so he watched Ciarra instead. Whenever she seemed upset, he gently nudged her mother or the lady’s maid awake. 

As the years went on, Oreg had to harden his heart and close his ears to the crying of the two sons of the house. He could do nothing to help them. Neither could he do anything to protect Muellen, whenever the Hurogmeten decided to share her bed. The only thing he could do was wake her, so that she would be warned, and the maid – Shianna – could hide. 

Little Ciarra grew up a healthy child, and her muteness didn’t impact her much. Oreg had long decided to show himself to her – there was no harm in it, she couldn’t talk, and even if she had been able to tell someone about him – most people in castle Hurog seemed to believe that her mind was as impaired as her voice was.

One day, when he concentrated his attention on her room, he found her sitting on her bed, crying. He sat down beside her, and gently placed an arm around her shoulders. 

She smiled weakly at him, and stood up, took his arm, and led him through the hallways. They arrived at the room that Oreg knew was Ward’s. He avoided it, if at all possible, but now Ciarra was tugging at his sleeve. So he followed her. 

Ward didn’t look good. He was pale, and seemed unconscious. The latest beating by his father must have been worse than usual. Ciarra looked at Oreg, a pleading expression on her face. He had never shown her that he could heal, but she was well aware by now that he could do magic. He sighed. He would probably regret that someday, when Ward followed in Lord Fenwick’s footsteps, but he couldn’t deny Ciarra anything. So he laid his hand on the forehead of the boy, and gently examined it for injuries. The skull had cracked. Not enough to kill the boy, but there was damage there. Brain damage, possibly. His magic could sense some injuries within the brain itself. Not good. But he could make it better. At least enough so that the survival of the boy became a bit more likely. 

He exhausted himself so much that he found himself lying on the floor soon after the healing. Before he could just melt into the stone, Ciarra flung her arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled weakly. Very probably he had just saved the life of his next tormentor, but it was worth it. Ciarra was worth it. 

The Hurogmeten didn’t care about his eldest son enough to request anything of Oreg that would have helped the boy ... but then, he had never asked about healing magic, him not being much interested in such things, and Oreg had seen no reason to tell him unasked.


	2. First chapter of the story proper, wherein Oreg saves Tosten's life.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this chapter is somewhat grimdark. Fenwick is a horrible man, and I don't feel like glossing over that, as it is clearly implied in the original. I shall spare my gentle readers detailed descriptions of Fenwick's evildoing.

Shianna watched, with growing worry, as her her lady took to drugging herself with potions. Oh, Muellen was always careful not to take too much of any given herb at a time, she was very knowledgeable about such things, but the fact remained that she was hardly ever sober these days.   
One couldn’t blame her, of course – her husband had beaten her eldest son half to death, and Muellen couldn’t do anything about it. She had to numb the pain, somehow. Still, Shianna would have preferred something else, even though she wasn’t sure what. Maybe Muellen could have run away and returned to her family? Not likely, they had married her off to Fenwick in the first place, for power and influence. The night after the ... thing with Ward had happened, Shianna had suggested to run away, to get employment as maid, not as lady’s maid, but just plain servant maid somewhere. The finest clothes, the best food, was not worth what her lady went through. But no, it could not be. The lady was anxious about the bad things that could happen if she left, and she couldn’t take all the children with her, and ... well, Shianna did know well enough how the maids were treated in Hurog, how Fenwick treated them. If it was the same elsewhere, it was preferable to stay here. 

Ward recovered, eventually. Somewhat. He was not the same as before. What had been an astute, bright-minded child, who had been able to do some weak magic, became an apathic, frightened boy, and when he regained the ability to talk, it was obvious that Ward had become ... simple, to put it politely. He made social blunders all the time, talked too loud, and said things so stupid that Shianna often cringed. Poor boy. Poor mother. 

And it frightened the younger one, Tosten. The boy had always been very sensitive, and now avoided his loud, oafish brother. 

Ciarra, on the other hand, seemed to get on well with Ward. To Shianna’s relief, despite the damage his head had obviously taken, Ward was still able to recognize that Ciarra was small and frail, and was gentler with her than he was with male visitors – whom he would often hug so hard that they could hardly breathe. 

 

Oreg had to grudgingly admit to himself that he somewhat liked Ward, when the boy was about fifteen and had still not started to molest the maids, concentrating most of his energy on caring for Ciarra instead. It was all relative, of course. There had been some masters whom Oreg could have called kind, if only because they only beat him if he provoked them by speaking his mind. On the whole, having someone at their mercy tended to bring out the worst in men.   
Maybe Ward would be endurable. Moreso than Fenwick, who had taken to beating up Oreg if he couldn’t find his sons and daughter. He seemed to need it to ... to be able to rape a woman. 

 

Things spiralled downwards with the family. Oreg had seen it happen so often he had lost count. A new lady would come to the castle. There would be a time of brightness and happiness, if she was nice. But inevitably, she would become unhappy. The fact that the Hurogmeten was often an unpleasant man of course had something to do with it, but there was more. Children died at young ages, and Oreg couldn’t do anything against it. Hurog’s magic was tainted, and Oreg could not remember a time when this hadn’t been the case. It was like a noise you didn’t notice after a time, because you had gotten used to it. He didn’t really notice it most of the time, but he was reminded that it was there every time things went downhill.   
Lady Muellen went mad. He couldn’t blame her, he would have liked to escape to a world of his own, too. The Hurogmeten went mad, too, although in a different way. He became more and more paranoid about Ward, even though the boy was clearly too stupid to even think of a plan for assassinating his father and making it look like an accident. Oreg secretly hoped Ward would just do it in an angry outburst, but he never mentioned that to Fenwick. He always tried to reassure Fenwick that Ward was no danger. The problem was that Tosten grew up, too, and became more and more of a target for his father's violent beatings. 

One night, Oreg sensed something very, very wrong in the castle. It didn’t take him long to find out what it was: Tosten was sitting on the floor of his room, a knife in his hand, trying to cut his arms open. He went about it the wrong way, Oreg could have told him. Though he might bleed to death eventually, nevertheless, if he inflicted some more wounds on himself. 

Should he let the boy die? Maybe, just maybe, Ciarra would be allowed to inherit, if ... but no, he couldn’t bring himself to let it happen. Ciarra would be heartbroken. It was a good thing that Ward was still awake, just returning from the library. It was late at night, and everyone was at least a bit sleepy at such late a hour, so Oreg took the risk of changing the stairs. Just so that Ward would have to pass by Tosten’s room on his way. He widened the gap between the door and the floor, so that the candlelight would be visible from outside. 

Ward noticed, and Oreg, his duty done, returned to Ciarra’s room, where he liked to spend his nights, watching over her sleep, working on some embroidery on his lap. The poor girl, the next morning would, most likely, bring an unpleasant surprise. 

A faint smile appeared on Oreg’s face as he sensed two people of Hurog-blood leaving the castle. Ward, stupid as he seemed, knew that he had to take Tosten away if the boy should have any chance to survive. Good. Ciarra would be sad that her brother wasn't there anymore, but relieved that he was safe. She might be mute, but Oreg suspected that she knew very well how paranoid her father was, and that, sooner or later, he might murder one of the boys. 

With Muellen less and less connected to reality, the Hurogmeten got less of a thrill out of raping her, so he turned on the maids more. Oreg did what he could to protect them, but had to admit to himself that he didn’t protect them all equally. He had taken a liking to Shianna, who was a kind, if a bit muddle-headed woman, always there to comfort her lady. Of course, it was easier to protect her, as she would open any door that she saw when she heard the heavy step of the Hurogmeten somewhere close. A more observant woman might have noticed that the door was not supposed to be there, but not Shianna. She would smile absent-mindedly, whenever she managed to escape, murmur a prayer to one goddess or another, open the door as soon as the coast was clear, and continue on her way. Often, she told people that she found the hallways of the castle very confusing. Sometimes Oreg thought she wouldn’t even notice if he’d make a door appear in her chamber that led directly to the privy, so that she wouldn’t have to venture into the hallways at night, but he didn’t dare do that. The Hurogmeten would punish him horribly if he'd find out that Oreg was changing where doors led, and thus steered maids away from him.


	3. Chapter 3

Years went by. Protecting Ciarra became more difficult, as she explored the castle on her own whenever she could escape her lady’s maid, but the men soon learnt that, although Ciarra was mute, she was not helpless. If her brother Ward was not nearby, then Oreg watched over her, and if a man thought he could get too familiar with her, there was always a door nearby for her to escape, or a stone appeared for the man to stumble over.   
Oreg would have reported such things to his master, but he wasn’t sure whether the Hurogmeten wouldn’t congratulate a man on molesting his daughter instead of punishing him. Ciarra’s muteness meant that her father didn’t even consider her a valuable asset to be married off for more influence, and hardly noticed her as long as she didn’t get in his way. 

Then, one day, a short time after showing Ciarra how to escape from her nasty cousin, Oreg felt an enormous relief. Something had changed. Fenwick was wounded. Severely wounded. He would die. 

Oreg was at his side in an instant, and took the ring from the man’s finger. Fenwick’s eyes went wide with fear as he realized what that meant. Oreg smiled, and returned to the cave. 

Now, he would see what Ward was really like. 

The skeleton was a good test, but when Ward ... passed it, Oreg felt a kind of disappointment. Maybe, just maybe, he would have liked proof that it had been justified to never help the boy escape from his father. Not, that Oreg could have done anything, not if the Hurogmeten really wanted to beat his son, but he could have ... avoided that the two met each other, just as he did with the women. 

 

Shianna only managed not to smile because Lady Muellen was so distressed. Otherwise, she didn’t think she could have hidden her relief at the fact that the Hurogmeten was dying. She knew he wouldn’t recover because he knew. He discussed his will. And managed to insult his son while doing so. Insult poor Ward for what was the result of years of violence! And how dared he telling them now that he shouldn’t have married Muellen! Oh, it was true, he should not have, but more for her sake than for his. 

Shianna did her best to comfort Muellen, who wasn’t sober, but seemed to sense that something bad had happened. 

There was a ring on Ward’s hand, a ring she had often seen on the hand of his father. Interesting. She hadn’t seen Fenwick give it to him. Had the two met earlier, before she arrived in the hall? 

 

Castle Hurog became a more pleasant place to live in after the death of the old Hurogmeten. Duraugh, Fenwick’s brother, was an overall more agreeable man, and Ward, well, Ward spent most of his time trying to tame his father’s dangerous stallion. Shianna hoped he wouldn’t get hurt; but she wasn’t too worried, Ward was good with horses.

Without the ever-present danger of Fenwick deciding to pay a visit to his wife’s chambers, Shianna could return to the quiet, eventless life she had always liked so much. She was able to get Muellen to cut down the amount of potions she took – although she was long addicted to most of them, so the death of her abusive husband didn’t do much good. And on sunny days, Shianna quite enjoyed walking in the gardens, sometimes with her lady, sometimes, when her lady was resting, alone. 

On one such walk, a young soldier approached her, and they talked a bit. Shianna asked him about Stala, and was pleased to find that he admired the armsmaster just as much as Shianna did. As there was not much to do for either of them, with no war at Hurog’s borders, and no violent man inside its walls, they quickly became friends, and met for walks together whenever they both had spare time. 

Even so, Shianna was quite surprised to find her new friend, Helge, at the door of her chambers one night. “Is something wrong?”, she asked. It must be something urgent, if he came here, at nightfall, after she had changed into her nightgown already. 

He shook his head. “I just wanted to talk.”

It was not too late, so she let him in. “How was practice?” Stala was very strict about keeping them in good fighting condition. 

“Very hard. I think I deserve a reward ...”

“Um.” When he approached her, she realized that her friendly behaviour could have been misinterpreted. “I ... don’t feel that way about you.”


	4. Chapter three, in which a man is killed.

Oreg sensed that there was something wrong. He knew that particular kind of wrongness, he had had to endure it often enough. It wasn’t Ward. He could sense Ward’s magic. Ah. That man. He was new, Oreg had thought he wasn’t too bad ... he had been wrong. 

It didn’t take him long to decide what to do when the man grabbed Shianna and tried to force himself on her. Castle Hurog was held together by magic. Oreg’s magic. And there was a little stone, that just so fit into the ceiling of Shianna’s chambers. Or rather, had fit into it, for now, it fell down. 

She didn’t scream. No, she calmly looked at the suddenly unconscious man. Kneeled down besides him, felt his pulse. A shocked expression appeared on her face. 

Oreg hadn’t intended to kill the man, but one rapist less was one rapist less, and that was okay with him. However, Ward would be angry. 

“Oh gods” Shianna murmured, staring at the corpse. 

She had liked the man. She might miss him. Maybe, after all, he shouldn’t have ...

“They’ll kill me.”

What had he done? Of course she feared she would be executed for murder. He himself, on the other hand, couldn’t be executed. Only punished. Which was maybe worse. 

“Fear not, Lady Shianna. I will explain it to the Hurogmeten.”

She stared at him, then smiled. “You.”

Oreg bowed. “You know me?”

She smiled, curtsied, and replied “Not by name. But I know the castle is haunted. And don’t you think I didn’t notice that there was always a door to some storeroom or staircase nearby when I wanted to avoid ... meeting someone.”

“Oh.” Apparently she was not quite so unobservant as he had thought her. “ Call me Oreg. The Hurogmeten is close by. I will explain the ... circumstances.”

 

“My Lord.”

“I told you, you can call me Ward.”

But it had not been an order, and Oreg liked to keep his distance. “My apologies. There is a matter of some importance I have to tell you about.” Maybe he could put it in a way that made his actions seem inevitable, and the only possible thing to do?

“Here?”

“Please, if you would follow me?” He walked, briskly, towards Shianna’s chamber. “You may have seen Lady Shianna with this soldier?”

“I think so. What’s the matter?”

“He tried to rape her, just moments ago.” He turned around, to watch Ward’s reaction. 

“You did something about it, did you?!” Ward seemed shocked. By the attempted rape, or by Oreg’s intervention? 

“I let a stone fall on his head.” Best to get it over with fast. 

Ward frowned. “Good. What about Shianna? That must have frightened her.”

“It did. I ... you ... you didn’t forbid me to show myself to others. I talked to her.”

“Good, good. Now, what about the man? The stone may have frightened him, but ...”

“I killed him.”

Ward’s eyes went wide with shock. “You didn’t.”

“I did. I ... am sorry, Lord Wardwick.” Oreg backed out until his back touched the wall. It was of no use, Ward could order him to come back, but he still did it, intuitively. 

“Damn it.”

Ward walked briskly now. “I will have to find some explanation. Was he drunk?”

Oreg reappeared at his side. “No, my Lord.”

“Well, I guess he could have fallen down the stairs. It happens. In fact, it happens very often to ... Oreg?!”

“That was before you inherited me. Your father didn’t mind.” Not that Oreg had ever told him about it. “And none of them died.” Anyone who molested a mute girl because she couldn’t cry for help, deserved death, but he hadn’t tried to kill them. It would have been too obvious. 

They had arrived at Shianna’s chamber now. Ward knocked, then opened the door. Shianna sat on the bed, a bit pale. She stood up and curtsied when she saw Ward. “Lord Wardwick.”

“Are you well?”

“I am. Helge is ... not. One of the boulders in the ceiling suddenly fell on his head, and ... I felt his pulse, he ...”

“Is dead. I know.” Ward picked the corpse up and slung it over his shoulder. “Don’t tell anyone, would you? I’m going to put him at the foot of a staircase, so that it looks like he fell down. I can’t have people distrust the stability of castle Hurog. They’d panic.”

“Yes, my Lord. I should have told you that there wasn’t enough mortar to hold the boulder in place. It is such a bad luck that it happened while someone was in here, but I am sure, there aren’t any other loose stones. It won’t happen again ... you won’t tell the Lady Muellen that there was a man in my chambers, will you?” Not that she would have reacted to that, sadly. 

“You say nothing, I say nothing.” He nodded, and trotted out of the room. Oreg closed the door behind him, and stayed behind, as he hadn’t been ordered to follow. 

“I am terribly sorry.” 

“Don’t be.” Shianna sighed. “I wanted a friend. My lady is not ... not someone I can talk to. Not anymore. And he was there. Maybe I should have known ... he did seem a bit too indifferent to injustice for my taste, but I thought it was just indifference. Of course I shouldn’t have given him reason to think I’d ...”

“It is not your fault”, Oreg interrupted. “I know that kind of man. He would have felt entitled to some other woman’s body, sooner or later.”

She nodded. “You must have seen a lot. How old are you?”

“Some hundreds of years. I try to forget the past.” Not very successfully, but he tried. 

“Can you go through walls?”

“The Hurogmeten didn’t give me leave to talk about my abilities.” Of course, he hadn’t forbidden it, either, but Oreg knew he was in for a whipping, anyway. No reason to make it worse. 

“I see. You ... you don’t use whatever abilites you have to peek on bathing women, do you?”

He had to smile at her innocence. Few women managed to keep their ability to be shocked by mere peeking in castle Hurog. “Please, Lady Shianna, I may be a cursed being, but I do have manners.” When she saw his outstretched hand, she laid her hand into his, and allowed him to lift it to his lips, where he stopped just short of touching it. “I promise I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“I hoped so.”

Oreg let go of her hand. “I have to admit that I do watch women in childbirth, though. If I hear that something is about to ... go wrong.”

“That isn’t a pleasant sight, anyway”, Shianna murmured. “So, you can heal?”

He really shouldn’t have said so much. Ward – the Hurogmeten – would be angry enough as it was. Beneath his gentle exterior, he still was his father’s son. 

“A bit. I ... I am sorry, Lady Shianna, I have to go.” He bowed. 

“It was a pleasure meeting you”, he heard her voice echo in the chamber after his body was gone. 

 

Ward was sitting on his bed when Oreg appeared in his room. He sighed exasperated. “Oreg, I don’t want you to kill people. It’s fine to hurt those who deserve it, but ... please, don’t kill.”

Oreg stared at him. “Yes, my Lord”, he managed to say. He didn’t like Ward’s apparent calmness. It made him nervous. The calm ones were the worst. 

“Don’t look at me as if I’m a venomous snake. I’m not going to hurt you.”

It was an order. Unable to change his frightened expression, Oreg turned around. 

“You don’t have to ... damn, I just gave you an order, did I?”

“Yes, Lord Wardwick”, Oreg whispered. He dreaded what was to come. Those who didn’t like to be treated as the dangerous people they were, were the worst. 

“I didn’t mean it. You can look at me whatever way you like. Please .... I just ... “

Oreg turned around and was surprised to find that Ward held his head in his hands. “I give up. I ... I’m sorry Oreg, I’m not used to ... I know what to do with horses who’ve been mistreated, but horses don’t obey all the damn time. Horses aren’t enslaved by magic.”

Could it be true? Maybe ... maybe Ward was really what he seemed to be? Oreg made a step towards him, laid a trembling hand on his shoulder. Ward didn’t move. 

It always felt so good, touching someone. Being touched was ... uncomfortable, if it wasn’t Ciarra, but the warmth of a human body under his hands ... it was almost irresistible at times. There had been so many centuries when no one had touched him, except to beat him, or ... worse. And most of his owners didn’t want to be touched by him. (There had been those who had wanted it, but in the wrong way. He tried to not think of those.)  
Ward was special. Maybe because he was so big? No that wasn’t right, there had been other tall men ... for whatever reason, Oreg felt that Ward could ... protect him. It was silly, of course. The last one who would ever protect him was his owner. He had learnt that through bitter experience. Even those who were kind to everyone else exploited his absolute obedience. Some unthinkingly, but still, they did. 

“I order you to not kill anyone without asking me beforehand.” Ward said after a time. “If you think you need to stop someone, I allow you to show yourself and tell him that I disapprove ... you know what I disapprove of, do you?”

“I ... think I might know. I will continue to protect your sister, at all costs. And your mother, and the lady’s maids.” His hand still laid on Ward’s shoulder. So warm. He almost felt alive. 

“Good. That sounds good. Just try not to kill anyone.” 

Oreg suppressed wincing when Ward put one of his large hands on his small one. It was a pleasant feeling, but frightened him. “Good night, Oreg. You are free to go now, and do whatever it is you do at night.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

His body was trembling when he reappeared in Ciarra’s bedroom. It had been too much to comprehend. Did Ward really not plan to punish him? Or would he punish Oreg as soon as he had thought of something particularly nasty? 

Ciarra was fast asleep, peaceful, drooling a bit into the pillow. He smiled. Ciarra was well. All was well.


	5. Chapter four, in which Muellen leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this is all more or less correct - I get confused on who gets to have a title used in front of their name and who doesn't and the protagonists don't make it any easier for me by often using nicknames and the like. I default to Lady Firstname and Lord Firstname with all people Shianna talks to, as "Lord/Lady Hurog" would be too much like talking to a stranger. Probably not correct English (or Shavig) use, but well ... I have no idea.

Shianna had seen to it that Lady Muellen got up and washed, and now they were both sitting on the window bench, working on some embroidery. Muellen liked floral patterns, Shianna did a picture of a dragon – it just seemed to fit the place. There were wall hangings with dragons on them all over the place, though some were faded and worn. 

There was a knock at the door. Shianna flinched, then remembered that Fenwick was dead. “Do come in.”

It was Oreg. Muellen’s face lit up. “Tosten! You returned!”

Shianna sighed. It was frustrating, to try every day to get Muellen to recover, and then have something like this happen. True, Oreg had the same, blue eyes as Tosten, and the same, slender build, but still. 

Oreg smiled at Muellen, who, satisfied with the interaction, turned back to her work. Shianna laid down her embroidery, got up and walked across the room, to be able to talk to Oreg without startling her lady. “Thank you for ... last night.” There hadn’t been much trouble, after all. The body had been found, it had been declared by some witnesses to have a broken skull, that had clearly resulted from the fall down the stairs, and the body was to be returned to the man’s family for the funeral. 

He shrugged. “It was the least I could do. You are very kind to Ciarra’s mother.”

Shianna frowned. Ciarra’s mother ... ah yes, one might call Muellen that. “I am worried, to tell the truth. She seems to ... lose her mind, slowly. It makes things easier for you that she thinks you are Tosten, but ... the two of you don’t look that alike.”

“Hurog is not a good place to live”, he said darkly. 

“You mean, it is the castle that has this effect on her? Not just the late Lord Fenwick?”

“It has powerful magic”, Oreg spoke slowly, arranged his words carefully. “And this magic is tainted, though I know not by what. It might contribute to her condition.”

“Do you think it could help to remove her from the castle? We could go visit her family for an extended period of time.” The old Hurogmeten wouldn’t have allowed that, but the new one almost certainly would. 

Oreg nodded. “It might help. Being sent away to live with a foster family did help some Hurog children survive. Maybe it is too late for her, but ...” 

“I will talk to Lord Duraugh. Or maybe Lord Wardwick? I guess both of them should be consulted ...”

“Would you please make it seem as if it is your idea, to Lord Wardwick? What I did last night ... displeased him. I should not be the one to ask a favour of him.”

“It would rather be a favour to him, but I can do that.” Poor Oreg. He seemed so frightened. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “He is a gentle boy. He will forgive you, I’m sure.”

Oreg closed his eyes. “I hope so.”

Shianna realized what she was doing and withdrew her hand. “I’m sorry ...”

“Don’t be.” He opened his eyes and smiled. “I liked it.”

Spoken in a different tone, his words might have sounded lecherous, but his clear tenor made them sound innocent. 

“Let me be quite clear about this”, Shianna said hastily. “I like you, but you are ... you look young enough to be my son.” 

“Don’t be worried, dear Lady Shianna. Your touch was much like that of a mother ... that was why I liked it. My own mother has been dead for a long time.”

She felt an overwhelming urge to hug him. “Oh. I ... sorry.” 

“I hardly remember her ...” He shook his head as if to get rid of the memories. “It is nice to have someone to talk to. May I call tonight?”

“Of course. It would be a pleasure.”

He left, using the door this time, and she returned to her work. 

Later that day, she took Lady Muellen for a walk in the gardens, and conveniently met Ward, on his way back from the stables. “Lord Wardwick – I have to talk to you. Will you accompany us?”

He looked down on his clothes. “If you don’t mind the smell ...”

“I don’t.”

Ward nodded, turned around, and walked beside her. “Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“I have been meaning to ask you ... your mother has not been ... well, lately, and I thought that maybe some change of surroundings might improve her health.”

“The climate here is rather harsh”, Ward agreed. “Compared to what she is used to ... yes, I do think a long stay with her relatives in the south would be advantageous to her health.”

He walked around them, and took his mother’s arm. “What do you think, mother?”, he asked gently, “Would you like to visit your family?”

It took her some time to return to reality. “Family?”

“Your brother, maybe? He inherited the estate, I remember that – you loved the gardens so much, didn’t you?”

“The gardens.” Her face lit up. “I would love to see the gardens.”

 

Ward brought it up to Lord Duraugh at dinner, and it was decided that Lady Muellen should go to visit her brother, and spend the winter at the family’s estate. “Do you want to go with her, Lady Shianna? You are a lady’s maid, not a nurse, and frankly ...”

“It has caused me great pain to see her deteriorate so, over the past few years”, Shianna admitted quietly. “And I am not sure whether she would notice if I was to be replaced by someone else. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Some practical-minded woman who didn’t see much of her when she was still ... sound of mind, I would say.” Lord Duraugh frowned, deep in thought. “Do you know someone like that, Ward?”

“The eldest Atwater girl, Tendra, might be a good choice”, Ward replied. “I’ll go ask about it. She’s very stubborn, and good with herbs. If someone is sick she’ll tell them to stay in bed and drink her herbal potions, and she’s very firm about it. We could tell her what herbs one has to keep mother away from.” 

After dinner, Shianna led the happily humming Lady Muellen up the stairs, and talked her into changing into a nightgown before going to bed. It was true, she was not good at this; she couldn’t order her lady around, that just wouldn’t do. The result was that she had to repeat her polite suggestions again and again, until Lady Muellen would remember them long enough to act on them.   
A nurse might be more effective, and maybe that would be for the best. And as Lady Muellen would go to stay with her relatives, there would be no one there who could look down on her because she didn’t have a proper lady’s maid, as would have been the case at court. 

Shortly after Shianna had retired to her own chamber, there was a gentle knock at the door. “Yes?”

It was Oreg, and she felt herself exhale with relief. Had she expected it would be another soldier with the intent to molest her? 

“Good evening, Lady Shianna.”

“And good evening to you, Oreg. Here, sit on my bed, I know you can be trusted.” There was only one chair in her small chamber, and it would be silly to insist on propriety when Oreg could go anywhere he pleased, anyway.

He smiled gratefully and sat down. “Thank you. It went very well. Your suggestion that Ciarra’s mother should spend some time away, I mean.”

“Yes, it did ... have you talked to Ward ... Lord Wardwick, I mean?” She still thought of him as the boy he had once been, sometimes. 

“Yes ...” Oreg carefully smoothed the blanket on her bed with his hands. “He ... seems to have no mind to punish me.”

“Punish you? What for ... oh.”

“Yes, I was talking about that. It seems ... unnatural that he doesn’t want to ... his father would have flayed me for that.”

“Lord Wardwick is not one to hold a grudge”, she replied carefully. “If that helps. I don’t think he is planning to punish you, if he hasn’t done so yet.” She got up from the chair and sat on the bed. “A lot of men have been very cruel to you, haven’t they?”

He snuggled up into her embrace, like a much younger boy. “I try not to think about it”, he murmured. “I try to forget it.”

“Maybe that is for the best.” Hopefully, he would not suffer again. He seemed so vulnerable, she wanted to protect him. Did he need protection? 

 

Lady Muellen left the next day, accompanied by her new nurse, the practical-minded girl Lord Wardwick had suggested for the job, and, of course, some guardsmen led by Stala. Stala would return, as she was needed in Hurog, but she, too, wanted to see her family. 

 

 

Shianna quickly settled into her new routine. On days, she helped out with most things that needed doing, in the afternoon and night, she would sit at the window and work on her embroidery. More often than not, Oreg would join her, and work on an intricate wall hanging. It showed a dragon, but a much more majestic one than the one Shianna was working on.   
“I knew her”, he explained. “I can’t really do her justice, but I want to at least try. She was gorgeous.”  
“You knew a dragon?!”   
“Yes. She had a beautiful voice ...” 

For a moment, he seemed lost in thought, but then, a different emotion appeared on his face. Pleasure? He closed his eyes and sighed happily. 

Shianna carefully shifted away from him. Something was strange. He didn’t seem to be quite there. Something like Lady Muellen when she had taken dreamroot. 

“Excuse me.” There was a blush on Oreg’s face. “It is ... this has ... nothing to do with you.”

Only then she noticed that he had his embroidery clutched on his lap, as if to hide something under it. 

“What was this? It was quite disconcerting, to be honest.”

“It ...” He sighed. “I told you that I am Hurog.”

“Yes?”

“Now, it ... I can feel it if someone touches the castle’s walls, and ...” He fidgeted around, his blush intensified. 

“Oh.” Was he saying that ... “You can feel it if the maids scrub the floors and such?”

“No. I mean, yes, but ... that feels like the touch of a mother who is removing some dirt from her child’s nose.”

Shianna nodded. “And just now ...?”

“That was ... like a lover gently touching his beloved’s cheek. He – it was done with the intention that I would feel it. I am sorry to have caused you discomfiture.”

“It is all well”, Shianna replied. And it was true, she was perfectly calm now. Or maybe not calm ... it was a very interesting question, after all, who had done this. She had thought Oreg was very lonely, but apparently, that was not the case. “I don’t assume you want to tell me who did that?”

“I ...” his voice trailed off. “I am not sure. Maybe ...” He sighed. “I should, probably. I have to ask you a favour.”

“Yes?”

“Lord Wardwick certainly means well, but I doubt he knows what ... what he is doing.” 

“Then he is the one who ...?”

“Yes.” Oreg’s usually pale face was bright pink now. “I am sure he does not intend to ... well, you know?”

“I know.” She was amused now, and hoped he could not hear it. She wanted Oreg to be happy, and this touch, while inappropriate, seemed to have made him exceedingly happy while it lasted. It was an embarassing situation, though. For him, at least. She was not squeamish, but of course, a woman of her station could not talk too openly about certain things, and Shianna had always felt much like a prisoner to propriety. She could not order her lady around, and she could not tell Oreg that, as far as she was concerned, he could be visibly aroused and it wouldn’t bother her, as long as it was not about her.   
It would just not be proper, and that was it. 

“The favour you wanted to ask?”, she reminded him. 

“I would be very much indebted to you if you could convey to him, in an ... appropriate way, that his touch causes feelings that ...” Oreg sighed. “Maybe if you would just tell him that I am ... embarassed to be in the presence of a lady while ....”

“Of course. I can do that.” Shianna smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry, dear readers, to be so late in posting this. It is hard to keep myself motivated when almost no one seems to read the story. Still, here's the next chapter, I hope you like it.

“Of course. I can do that.” Shianna smiled. 

Oreg frowned. “Excuse me – I have to go.”, he mumbled, and vanished without a trace. She knew he could do that, but normally, he would bid her goodnight and use the door. 

A knock on the door explained his sudden disappearance. “Yes?”

Lord Wardwick entered. “I have news from my mother.” He handed her a letter. “Stala sent a messenger. My mother has improved considerably. She recognized her family members, and has told Tendra Atwater some interesting things about the herbs in their garden. Maybe it is just because she remembers her childhood better, but ... I dare to hope.”

“That is good news!” Maybe Muellen would really recover! 

“I have to thank you for that. You suggested it.”

“Oh, actually, it was Oreg who ...” she fell silent. He had asked her to keep his involvement secret.

“Oreg? Strange, he didn’t talk to me about that at all.” Ward frowned. “I seem to scare him. I guess I’m too tall.” He crossed the room and sat on the floor beside her.

“While we are talking about him ...”

Ward looked up. “Is there something I need to know about?”

Shianna pretended to have to repair something in her embroidery, so that she wouldn’t have to look at him. “Well, it is ... just some moments ago he ... suddenly went very silent, and ... strange.”

“Oh, that’s just his ... he remembers the past, you know? His eyes go blank and all that ...”

“No, it was not like this. He ... explained to me that he can feel it if someone touches the castle’s walls.”

“Oh.” Ward’s eyes went wide open. “You mean ...”

“Someone did just that. He said it felt differently from when the maids clean the floors. More ... intimate. He was a bit embarrassed.”

Ward went pale. “Oh. Oh ... I ... you can tell him that I ... I will make sure that it won’t happen again.”

She suppressed a smile. “Thank you.”

“I will always protect him”, Ward said quietly. “He is safe. He should know that. There will be no further ... embarassment.”

“Good to know. I enjoy his company, and this incident was a bit unsettling.”

Ward nodded absently, then stood up and nodded at her. “You will want to read the letter. Good night, Lady Shianna.”

He left the room, and Shianna opened the letter he had given her. Indeed, this was good news.   
Shianna had not hoped that the effects would be felt quite so early. Actually, she had not allowed herself to hope that anything would change at all. “Oreg?”

No answer. A short while after that, though, there was a knock at the door, and Oreg entered. “Did you talk to him?”

“I thought you could listen?”

“I can, but I chose not to.” He seemed uneasy, so Shianna decided to not ask any more questions. 

“Yes, I told him. He said he will see to it that it doesn’t happen again.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“Stala wrote. Apparently, Lady Muellen is very well, now that she’s not here anymore. I owe you thanks for that – I would never have thought that it was actually the castle.”

Oreg nodded absent-mindedly. “Good.”

 

It was not good. Oreg had liked Ward’s gentle touches. Liked them too much for it to be proper, but still. He missed it. And, even worse, he could not look Ward in the eyes anymore. It was so embarassing that he knew ... and worst of all, Ward seemed very upset about it, more upset than Oreg, in fact. He was more distant now, even ... cold. It hurt. 

Ward had shown him nothing but kindness, had resorted to patting the walls when Oreg was so deep in one of his flashbacks that his whole body hurt, and had often succeeded in reminding Oreg that all this misery was past. 

And Oreg had ... enjoyed this kindness in a way that he blushed to think about even now. Ward certainly had never intended to cause that kind of feelings, and Oreg felt guilty, though he knew not how he could have avoided it. 

His body – the one that was the castle, and the one that was human, both – yearned for Ward’s touch, wanted to ... to feel protected, feel ... loved. But this could not be. Ward was not the kind of man who wanted this kind of relationship with another male. True, he didn’t seem to have any affairs with women, either, but Oreg had not paid close attention to the male offspring of his late master, and would not have noticed everything that went on. 

Shianna was his only comfort in those days. She could always be counted on to have some kind words for him, to compliment him on his prowess in embroidery, and hug him if he needed it. 

“There is something wrong with you”, she said one evening, and he could tell from her tone that she had long known of his unhappiness, but had been reluctant to mention it. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He nodded. Maybe he would feel better if he talked about it. Or at least be able to make sense of it. “It is ... Ward. I think I ... I love him.”

“I know.”

“How?” Was it that obvious? Did Ward know it, too?

“Your comparison when you described his touch was telling.” She smiled. “And you are sure he doesn’t return your feelings?”

“Very sure. He ... since you told him that ... since you told him, he’s very ... careful not to get too close to me. Before, he talked to me while in the bath, now he asks me to leave before he undresses. I make him uncomfortable.”

“Poor dear.” Shianna hugged him. “Poor dear.” 

And he buried his head in her bosom, as if she was his mother. 

“Should I talk to him?” Shianna asked. “Maybe it is not like you think.”

“No! I ... this is very kind of you, but ... I know there is no way he could ... I’m not even properly alive. I shouldn’t even exist.”

“There, there, I’m glad you do exist. And I’m sure he is, too.”

They stood there like that for quite some time, and Oreg didn’t know how much time had passed when he heard the door being opened. 

Shianna stumbled backwards. “Lord Wardwick? Lord Wardwick, are you hurt?”

“No” Ward rubbed his forehead. “Just bumped my head on the doorframe. I’m used to that.”

Oreg felt a twinge of guilt. He could have avoided that, if he had just paid attention. 

“You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes ... sorry, I seem to have interrupted ...”

“It’s okay, Oreg is better now. He was just ... just having one of his flashbacks.”

Dear, clever Shianna. He wouldn’t have been able to think of a lie so quickly. Not now.

“Ah, I see.” It was obvious Ward didn’t believe it, but if he thought they were a couple, maybe he would feel less uneasy around Oreg, now? 

Ward closed the door behind him. “Oreg, is there any chance someone could listen to what is said in this room?”

Oreg concentrated. There was no one nearby. “No. The hallway outside is empty, and there’s no one hiding at the windows, either. Is there something amiss?”

“We have visitors. They tell me that they’re looking for an escaped slave. I just wanted to tell you ... if you see her, don’t tell anyone. Except me, that is.”

“You aren’t going to ...?” 

“There are no slaves in Hurog. That is the law, and I intend to uphold it. I would much prefer to not have to use violence to enforce the law, though. It’s better they don’t find her in the first place.”

“That is very kind of you, my Lord.”, Shianna replied. “I haven’t seen her, and I shall never see her.” She winked. 

“May I bring her something to eat?”, Oreg asked hesitantly. “I don’t have to show myself. Just ... I’m sure she’s hungry.”

“Oh, by all means, do. See to it that she has everything she needs. But if someone asks, I have no idea where she is.”

 

Oreg bowed, and vanished. 

“I don’t think I will ever get used to that”, Shianna murmured, staring at the spot where he had been a moment ago. “It’s a bit unsettling when he does that, isn’t it?”

“I know what you mean, but ...” Ward shrugged. “His magic is Hurog’s magic. I found it easy to get used to him.”

“Did you? He mentioned that he thought you were a bit uneasy in his presence, my Lord.”

“He did? Maybe ... maybe I am. It is ... you know, my ancestors didn’t always treat him well, and I ... I don’t want to repeat any mistakes.”

Shianna couldn’t suppress her smile. “There is no need for that – I don’t think you could flog him by accident.”

“I didn’t mean that, I ...”

She didn’t get to hear his answer; as he interrupted himself when Oreg reappeared. “She hides in the caves under the castle. I placed some blankets there for her to find, and some bread, cheese and wine.”  
“Thank you. Very well. Now, Lady Shianna, I regret to have to inform you that one of our visitors is Landislaw, and he’s a little rat. No, that is not fair to rats. He is nasty, and I wouldn’t count on him to keep his hands to himself in female company, so ... Oreg, please keep an eye on him.”

“Yes, my Lord”, Oreg replied quietly. 

“You can make yourself visible and claim to be a distant relative. There is no shortage of Hurog bastards, so that shouldn’t arouse suspicion.” Ward fell silent for a while. “Much as I hate Landislaw, he is a nobleman, and it would be hard to explain his death.”

“Yes, my Lord.” Oreg said, so quietly Shianna could barely hear it. “I will go immediately.”

“I think he is still scared that you might punish him for ... you know.” Shianna said after Oreg was gone. In truth, by now she suspected he was more ashamed than anything else, ashamed of having disappointed Ward. The distress in his voice had been obvious. 

“That? But I would never ... tell him not to worry. He’s safe. Really.” Ward smiled sadly. “I aim to be a honourable man. Good night, Lady Shianna.”

With that, he left.


	7. Chapter seven, wherein Ward has an interesting conversation with Garranon

The next day, Ward didn’t see Shianna anywhere. He was grateful for it, as this meant she was staying in her room, where Landislaw couldn’t molest her. If that despicable man took any liberties with the maids, Ward would have to beat him up and send him home, and that would cause serious conflict. It was better he went away as soon as possible. And without the slave. Which was next to impossible to achieve. And while Garranon was always polite, he didn’t yield concerning the slave. His brother’s life was in danger if they didn’t get her back and returned her to her ‘rightful’ owner. And Ward respected that. Really, he might have done the same for Tosten. Only that Tosten wouldn’t buy a slave, ever. At least Ward hoped so. And he would have to go look for Tosten – he knew his brother was still alive, but the man whom he had asked to take Tosten as apprentice had written that he had no idea where Tosten was. 

Problems. So many problems. When Garranon and Landislaw left, he would go and find Tosten. That would give him something to do. At least, this problem, he could solve. Whereas Oreg ... he didn’t know what to do about Oreg. Setting him free was the obvious solution, but how? The sorcerers at court might be powerful enough to do something about it, but then, maybe not. And maybe they would treat Oreg like some exotic animal. Ward couldn’t allow that to happen. 

But it was pointless to want to protect Oreg. The truth was, Oreg was a powerful mage and could protect himself just fine. The only one who could hurt him was Ward, and it was difficult to protect someone from oneself. Ward had already hurt him, and maybe would do so again. 

Ward stared at the wall. He would have hit his head against it, but then ... Oreg was Hurog, and that meant he couldn’t even hit the wall. It was incredibly frustrating. 

“Ward?”

Garranon. Ward turned around. 

“Are you well?”, Garranon asked gently. “You have been staring at that wall for quite a while now.”

“I am not stupid, you know?”, Ward replied exasperated. “I talk slowly, but that is all.”

Garranon nodded. “That was not what I meant to imply. You seem worried.”

“The fact that you ask me to break Hurog law on behalf of your brother does not help.” Ward wasn’t in the mood to be polite. 

“I am sorry. But you will understand that I have to help Landislaw. He may be a spoiled brat sometimes, but he is my brother, and all the family I have left.”

“Of course. Still. My ancestors decided that there be no slaves in Hurog. Will you leave without her if you don’t find her soon?”

Garranon shook his head. “No. I can’t. Regardless ... I would like to remain your friend. If you would like, we may go to the guest room you have provided me with, and I will share some wine with you.”

An invitation. Just now, when Ward desperately needed to talk to someone. “Alright. I’ll inform my valet that there’s no need to wait for me.” 

While he did tell Axiel that he could go to bed, as Ward was well able to get out of his clothes and into bed on his own, he also informed Oreg that he would be in Garranon’s room, didn’t want Oreg to listen to the conversation, and that, if he was found dead the next morning, Tosten would inherit, and the most likely suspect for the murder was Garranon. Not that he suspected Garranon of having something like that in mind, but he had been at court often enough to not trust appearances, and, after all, uncle Duraugh was rather less opposed to slavery than Ward. 

“Do you want me to take revenge immediately, should you be killed?” Oreg asked. “I can do that.”

There was an eagerness in his tone that Ward found unsettling. “Take it out on Landislaw. He’s the cause of the problem. But I doubt anything will happen to me, anyway.” Ward smiled, a forced smile, as always with Oreg in the past few weeks, and went to see Garranon. 

 

Garranon already expected him, and had the wine ready, two goblets on the table, and a nice fire in the fireplace. 

They got on quite well. Garranon seemed to have quite a lot of wine with him, and good quality, too. He filled Ward’s goblet again whenever it was empty, and after some time, when the fire had burned down, Ward realized that he had told Garranon everything about his father and the rather bleak childhood that resulted from his father’s personality. Garranon was a good listener, and pleasant company. 

“So that is why you pretended to be a fool.” Garranon nodded. “I would have done the same.”

“May I ask something?” After all, he had told Garranon quite a lot.

“Of course.”

“Everyone knows about your ... relationship with king Jakoven. I am rather curious as to how it started. You can’t have been on good terms with him, after the revolution and all that ... ”

Garranon shrugged. “He spared me the fate of my parents, and was kind to me. I guess that was how it started.”

“Because you felt indebted to him? I am not sure that is ...” Ward fell silent. He was talking too much. To openly. 

“You would prefer a different reason?”

“I ... I don’t know.” It reminded him too much of something he himself had done. “You can’t have been much older than fifteen at the time. A man should not ... should not expect anything in return when he’s kind to a boy that age, or even older.”

“You have strong feelings where justice is concerned”, Garranon said quietly. 

“Of course I have! Everyone should! A scared boy, who has been abused before ... it is just not right to exploit such a situation!” And he had done it. Poor Oreg. 

“You ...” Garranon went pale. “You know.”

Ward blinked. His emotional outburst had been entirely inappropriate, but Garranon’s reaction was interesting. “Yes. I know.”

“How? I ... not even Jakoven himself suspects. At least I hope that. He knows what his soldiers did to me, and he knows he is exploiting me, but he ... he never suspected ...”

The realization dawned on Ward. “You hate him.” 

“Hate is too weak a word. He made me and my brother orphans. He keeps me as his whore. He does nothing to help Oranstone, and ... I want to kill him!” Garranon trembled with anger. Long suppressed anger. 

“Anger is not your friend”, Ward quoted Stala. “You need to think clearly. I won’t say anything about that to anyone. Just ... know that whenever you turn against a man who is not honourable, who does things that no one should do, I will be on your side.” Worded carefully enough, just in case. No one should be able to accuse him of treason. 

Garranon nodded. “Thank you. But, really, how do you know? If I was too obvious...?”

“I didn’t know until just now”, Ward admitted. “It is just that ... let’s say, I have a friend who is in a similar situation.”

“With king Jakoven?” Garranon frowned. Apparently he thought he could keep the king occupied, and thereby protect other young men and boys. 

“No. Not the king.”

“This friend is you”, Garranon guessed. “Did your father ... maybe even your uncle ...?”

“No! I mean, no, really, not. My father was a cruel man, but he drew the line there. And my uncle is the better one of the two.” Which made it even worse that Ward himself ... now, he knew Garranon’s secret, he might as well admit his own. “The friend is ... one of my servants. And it is me who ... acted dishonourable.”

“You? Forgive me, but I don’t believe that.” There was a hint of amusement in Garranon’s eyes. 

“I didn’t do it on purpose, if that makes it more believable. It is just that ... I touched him. I thought he might like it.”

“Ah. And he didn’t, so you stopped.”

How could he explain that? “No I ... well, I didn’t stop in time to avoid ... embarassment. He was very embarassed about it.”

“That is all? Not disgusted?”

“He would not tell me that he is disgusted by me. You would not tell Jakoven that he disgusts you, certainly?”

“Of course not. But you are not like him. Your servants do not act like his servants. They know you won’t kill them. That one man, your valet ... he doesn’t much behave like a servant, even.”

“Axiel? He came here when my father returned from the war. I am not sure why he chose to accompany my father, he seems to be here of his own accord, not just a mere servant, also a good fighter. I wouldn’t want to ask him about it, I respect his privacy. But the ... the one I’m talking about is ... less able to defend himself than Axiel.” Less able to defend himself. Yes. That was a good way of expressing it. After all, Oreg was, strictly speaking, not even younger than anyone else. 

“I still have some difficulties to imagine that you would, without warning, touch someone in ... inappropriate places.”

He could have asked whether the inner wall of his room was an inappropriate place to touch Oreg, but that would have convinced Garranon, that, after all, Ward was not just stupid but dangerously insane. “Maybe the place was not inappropriate but the manner of touching was. I am deeply ashamed I ever did that, and I have no idea how to ... make it better.”

“Jakoven’s idea of making it better was to be gentler about raping me than his soldiers were”, Garranon said bitterly. 

“I’m sorry” Ward replied, as that was the only thing he could think of.

“Don’t. I ... I have made my peace with it. I gain influence, and Jakoven is old. He will not live forever. Let’s talk about your little problem, shall we?”

“It is not little.”

“Why not? It is over. You will not do it again.”

“He doesn’t know that.” And the very thought made him sick. 

“You could send him away. We could make a deal. You help me to find Bastilla, the slave, and in turn, I take that young man with me. He can stay in Buril, he would be safe from Jakoven there.”

“It is not that easy.” Oreg was Hurog. Ward was almost certain he could not leave the castle. And even then, he might not want to leave Ciarra and his new friend Shianna behind. 

“You don’t want him to go?”

“I don’t”, Ward admitted. It was true. He didn’t want Oreg to leave. He would have let him leave, of course, but he did not like the thought. “I just ... I just want him to trust me, I guess.” Not that he deserved it. 

“I could talk to him”, Garranon offered. “If he wants to talk to the king’s whore, that is.”

“I’ll think about it. Thank you. And I’m sure he won’t ... won’t hold that against you.”

 

When he left the room, Garranon stepped outside, too, hugged Ward briefly, his head about the height of Ward’s chest, and raised a hand to pat him on the shoulder. “May you find happiness. You deserve it more than most men I’ve met.”

“Thank you”, Ward mumbled, a bit embarassed, as he wasn’t used to such high praise. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

When he returned to his room, he found Oreg there. “You were very affectionate with Garranon, considering that you suspected he could plan to murder you.” Oreg sounded angry. 

“I ... did you listen to our conversation? I think I asked you not to.” Dear gods! If Oreg knew ... no, he couldn’t. 

“I did my best to not focus on what you talk about. I just watched his door.”

Ward sighed. “Oreg, I’m ... I’m sorry. I understand that you resent him, slavery is wrong and no one knows that better than you. But he’s just trying to protect his brother. I can’t hate him for that.”

“No need to kiss him goodnight”, Oreg sneered. 

Enough was enough. If Oreg wanted to be sarcastic, well, Ward could do that, too. “Why not? He sure is a very handsome man, and what the king doesn’t know won’t hurt him, eh?”

Oreg’s eyes went wide. He seemed ... hurt. Gods, had he really believed that? 

Ward wanted to say something, but Oreg vanished without a trace before he could even open his mouth.


	8. Chapter 8

Shianna woke up to the sound of suppressed crying. “Oreg?”, she asked. If it wasn’t him, he would hopefully come to her help, but the sound wasn’t very threatening. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up. I just needed ... company.”

It was him. “Sit here”, she patted her mattress. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s nothing.” He sighed. “I should have ... I probably shouldn’t tell you, but ... Ward visited Garranon in his guest room just now.”

“That is all?” There must be more to it. 

“They ... when Ward left, he ... I might have mistaken it, but ... I am sure they hugged, and Ward admitted that he would like to ... to kiss.”

“Ward and Garranon?” Now Shianna was awake. “Are you sure?” Garranon was very handsome, she had noticed that, but Ward didn’t seem the type to ... but maybe she was just telling this to herself because she wanted Oreg to be happy. 

“Ward likes him. A lot. He apologized to me for being so close to a man who approves of slavery ... he wouldn’t do that if they were just friends”, Oreg replied gloomily.

No, Shianna didn’t really think Ward would be quite so quick to start an affair. It was probably just Oreg preparing for the worst that could happen. “He might. You know ... he told me to tell you that you are safe. That you need not worry about him punishing you for ... saving me. He wants you to feel safe. His being friends with a slaveowner is in conflict with that.” 

“He could have told me that it’s political necessity. I would have understood that.” Oreg wiped his tears. “You are right, I’m being silly.”

“I didn’t say that. I just think you are a bit too certain that the worst will happen. What about you go and look after that escaped slave? She might need company, too.” And in Shianna’s experience, being around people who suffered more than oneself did, always helped. Often times, when it was that time of the month, and she had had cramps, she had taken consolation in the fact that her lady was worse off, and confined to her bed, while Shianna was still able to run errands. 

Oreg’s face lit up. “Yes, I should look after her. She has real problems, not just silly hurt feelings. Good night, and sleep well.”

He vanished, and Shianna was a bit ashamed of how relieved she was that, now, finally, she could go back to sleep. 

 

When Ward woke up, he could feel that Oreg, in his human form, was nearby. Good. He had to tell Oreg that it had just been a joke. But ... he sat up. Oreg was not standing anywhere in the room. No, Oreg was lying on the floor. “Oreg?”

A quiet noise. Ward kneeled beside Oreg, reluctant to move him. “What happened?”

“The slave ...”

Ah. He should have known. Oreg had done something stupid to protect that woman. As Oreg didn’t continue, and didn’t move, Ward examined his head and neck for injuries, found none, and lifted him up to the bed. “Do I need to do something?” He concentrated on what little magic he had left. Tried to find her. He usually couldn’t magically find people he had never met before, but nevertheless, he tried. 

And it was then that he noticed Oreg had brought something. A rock, some might have thought, but looking closely, it was somewhat human-shaped, and looking at it, he could sense that it contained ...someone. Interesting. So she couldn’t be dead, he wasn’t able to find dead people. And she was probably safe, for the moment. 

He looked back at Oreg. There had been a fight. Those wounds didn’t heal as fast as those he had seen on Oreg on former occasions, when it had been mere re-living of the past. Those wounds were real. Ward found nothing life-threatening, but it was still bad. 

“So ... sorry”, Oreg murmured. 

“It’s alright. Don’t worry.”

“You ordered me not to kill ...” Oreg continued weakly.

“You killed someone?” This was bad. Really bad. Ward concentrated. Garranon was alive. So was Landislaw. Good. If it was just a common soldier, maybe Garranon would not insist on revenge. Of course there would be a price to pay, but hopefully in gold, not blood. 

“No, I ... she tried to take the dragon bones.”

“The bones? What for? Give them a proper burial? Was there an enchantment on them?” That made sense. “Just catch your breath. If there is no immediate danger, you don’t need to explain anything right now.”

Oreg closed his eyes, and the cuts on his face started to vanish. Soon, he looked a lot better, though still pale and frightened. 

“Dragon bones are ... they have power. Great power. She is a powerful mage already, and would have become powerful beyond all human measure if I hadn’t caught her. She is evil. Garranon can have her. I ... I think she is not what they claim she is. No ordinary slave.”

“She did all this to you?”

“Yes.”

“Much as I abhor slavery, I think in that case I will make an exception. On the other hand ... if they lied to us, that’s just what they want us to do, isn’t it? My father would have done it, and they clearly expected that I would help them catch a slave, too.”

So, what now? Tell them that he knew what they were planning? What were they planning? 

“She was unconscious when I turned her to stone”, Oreg explained. “Might have been almost dead, I don’t know. I really tried to take her alive, but she is powerful, and ... she might die if turned back.”

Gods, what had he done? He had ordered Oreg not to kill, and this was the result? “I don’t blame you. Your safety is more important. I should have specified that you may kill in self-defense. I’m so sorry, Oreg. So sorry.”

Oreg smiled. “I can’t die, remember? I did it for the bones.”

“Are they really that important? I mean, I know, you knew the dragon, and liked her, and all that, but ...” Was it really worth the risk of Oreg ... well, not dying, he had said he couldn’t die, but he could still suffer. 

“You don’t understand. Giving dragon bones to humans is like giving ... giving ... something very dangerous to a little child.” Oreg was obviously not in a state to make clever metaphors. 

“I will take your word for it. Calm down. I believe that what you did was necessary. And we aren’t worse off than before ... no, better. I can allow them to search the whole surroundings now, they won’t find her. But you said she was no ordinary slave ... there must be something behind that. Could you spy on Garranon and Landislaw after you have recovered? Maybe only Landislaw is involved, but we can’t take chances.”

“I will do that.” Oreg’s smile broadened. 

“And you are not angry at me anymore? I mean, I really ... not that it makes much difference, but I didn’t kiss Garranon and have no intention to do so. He was just hugging me.”

“Really?”

“Really. And you need not be worried, he wouldn’t be able to change my views on slavery. I have seen how my ancestors treated you – nothing could ever persuade me that slavery should be tolerated.” He frowned. “You said that woman was no ordinary slave. Do you think she is a slave at all?”

“It would be difficult to enslave a magic user of her potential. I heard that ... the Cholynn ... yes. She might be one of those.”

“But they don’t ever leave the temple, I thought?”

“She must be here with a mission”, Oreg agreed. “Steal the dragon bones, probably. She won’t be able to find them again, I showed her the cave in the first place.”

“Good. That she won’t be able to find them, I mean.” Ward sighed. “I would almost have preferred the situation we had before. Less complicated.”

Oreg sat up. “Landislaw is asleep. I can search his room, maybe I find a clue.”

“Be careful not to ...” But Oreg was already gone. Hopefully he knew best what he could do in his present state. 

Ward sat down on his bed and stared at the wall. He had gotten himself into a lot of trouble. Not that he was the only one responsible, but still, he had told Garranon a bit too much. The slave had seen Oreg and knew he was a powerful mage. If the necessity arose to introduce Oreg to Garannon, it might be obvious what Ward felt for Oreg, and that would lead to questions. 

Why on earth had he talked so much to someone he barely knew, and could not trust? Oreg had been right to be angry, it had been a foolish thing to do. 

A while later, at sunrise, Oreg returned. “There are women’s clothes in his luggage. Of good quality, the kind your aunt Stala wears.”

“Not for pleasing his eyes, then, but for her comfort?” Ward nodded. “What did you tell her about your identity?”

“That I am a distant relative of the Hurogmeten. I gave the impression that I have the authority to question her about her intent. When I ... I still had the faint hope she wasn’t doing it on her own behalf, but then she tried to ingest a splinter of bone, so I knew I had to fight her.”

“Tell me more about the dragon bones. You say they give one power ... assuming I was trained in magic, could I use them for ...” Oreg’s expression silenced him. “It doesn’t you know, make people evil to use them, does it?”

“Not evil in that sense. Too powerful for their own good. It corrupts them over time. What would you want to use the bones for?” 

Ward shrugged. “Keep us safe from whatever Landislaw, or the Cholynn, or both of them, are planning. And set you free, I suppose.”

“Set me free?” Oreg stared at him, not quite as shocked as when Ward had suggested to make use of the dragon bones, but still shocked. 

“It would not ... would it kill you? After so many years have passed?”

“It might. Death would set me free, that much I know.” There was an eerie smile on Oreg’s face. 

“You wouldn’t have much use for your freedom if you were dead, wouldn’t you? Now, back to our problem. Could you take a look at Garranon’s stuff, too? Just to be sure?”

Oreg nodded, and vanished.


	9. Chapter 9

Shianna slept late, and was still in her nightgown when Oreg appeared in her room again. He was pale. “What happened?” That night had been far too eventful for her tastes.   
“Thank you for telling me to look after the slave. She ... she is a spy. I caught her red-handed, meddling with things that she had no right to touch.”

“Things too secret to tell me?” She raised a hand when Oreg wanted to protest. “No, it’s alright, I don’t expect you to trust me with everything. So, you can now return her to that Landislaw with a clear conscience?”

“In theory. In practice, she knows too much, and it is likely that he was working together with her in the first place. And not only that, she is dangerous. Her magic is almost as powerful as my own.”

“Dear gods!” Shianna rubbed her eyes and yawned. “What are you going to do now?”

“I have no idea. That is why I came here. I thought, maybe, you have an idea?”

Shianna shook her head. “You flatter me. What do I know about politics? I am only low nobility, just good enough to be a lady’s maid, and always knew I’d either marry and become a mere appendage to my husband, or serve as lady’s maid. I am not made of the same wood as, for example, Stala.”

“It is not politics. Not yet. At the moment, it is human nature. How to catch a liar.”

“A liar. Let’s see. This slave is a spy, and you suspect Landislaw is working together with her. Where is she at the moment?”

“I turned her into stone”, he replied, matter-of-factly, as if he did such things every day before breakfast. 

“Can you reverse that?” She would think about the implications later, she decided. Now, they had to hurry. 

“I can. But what then?”

“Then you return her to Landislaw. In chains, of course. Tell him you changed your mind, want to keep the good political connections to him, and what is a slave’s freedom compared to that? Then you leave the two of them alone together and ... didn’t you mention you can see and hear everything that is going on in castle Hurog?”

“I can. Yes. Of course! They don’t know that.” Oreg smiled. “Thank you. That helps a lot! I’ll tell Ward about it. Do you want to come?”

Shianna shook her head. “I don’t think I have more helpful suggestions, and I need to wash and dress before I can go anywhere. Breakfast would be good, too.”

He only seemed to notice then that she was not yet dressed. “Oh! I kept you awake last night. My apologies. May I return if I have more questions?”

“Of course. Just not while I’m washing or changing my clothes.”

“Of course not.” He bowed and vanished. 

 

She got herself washed and dressed, and went to the kitchen for breakfast. There, she heard the news that the slave had been caught, and, for the sake of Garranon’s friendship, returned to his brother Landislaw.   
The maid who told her about it thought that it was sensible, but not quite as idealistic as one had come to expect of Lord Wardwick. 

Shianna scarfed her breakfast down as fast as she could, and returned to where the living quarters were. After making sure that no one was watching her, she went down the hallway that led to Ward’s room, and knocked at the door reluctantly. 

Ward opened without asking who was there, and placed a finger on his lips, gesturing towards Oreg, who was sitting on the bed, eyes staring into empty space. 

They waited for a long time. Then, finally, Oreg shook his head and looked at them. “Garranon doesn’t know about the whole plot”; he started. “Bastilla – that is her name – is indeed a slave, but seems to be content to remain so. Her master is not Ciernack, but Kariarn, and he seems to have plans to overthrow the king.”

“Not that bad an idea”, Ward replied. “Something else?”

“The plan seems to involve Landislaw as owner of Buril. Isn’t that Garranon’s estate?”

“It is.” Ward frowned. “Damn it. I would be all for letting them walk away, but what Bastilla did ... she would likely try again.”

“She said something about returning with Kariarn’s army.”

“May I know what it is she tried?”

Ward looked at her with a guilty expression on his face. “I am not sure ... Oreg seems to think it is very secret information.”

“Not so secret now”, Oreg sighed. “I trust Shianna. May I tell her?”

Ward nodded, and Oreg explained something about dragon bones.

“Is there a reason why they can’t be destroyed?”, she asked when he had finished. “That would put an end to all attempts to get them.”

“No reason as such ... but I don’t know how ... magic won’t affect them. Dragons usually eat their dead, and can digest the bones, but other than that ... breaking them won’t affect the magic in them.”

“Grind them into powder?” Ward suggested. “Several attempts have been made to repair the salt damage on one of the fields with pulverized shells, but it didn’t work. Maybe it works with dragon bones, and if not, at least no one can find them. Or would the earth still have magical properties?”

“It would be a good fertilizer, and even if there was some magic left, no one would look there.”

“So ... let’s do it?”

Oreg nodded. “We should keep this secret. Maybe tell Axiel about it.”

“Axiel? Why Axiel?”

“He’s the dwarf king’s son. Didn’t he tell you so?” Oreg grinned. 

“When he was drunk. Do you mean ...”

“It is true. If you know what to look for, it is really obvious. Dwarves can be trusted with dragon bones.”

“Alright then, that is the plan. We order a shipment of shells, take them to a room that is obscured from view, take the ground dragon bones out, and plough them under. Does that sound like a good plan?”

Shianna nodded, as she didn’t see any flaw, and was relieved when Oreg agreed, too. 

 

He accompanied her back to her rooms, and the only one they met was Garranon, obviously on his way to visit Ward. 

Back in her lady’s room, Oreg said “Ward says he didn’t kiss Garranon, and doesn’t intend to, but the other way round ...”

“You are jealous.”

“Well, yes”, Oreg admitted. “I am. I never felt so ... so attracted to someone and to see Garranon so close to him ... it makes his avoiding to ever touch me hurt so much more.”

She watched him, trying to get the innocent-looking young man she saw to fit with what she knew. He could turn people to stone, yet here he was, hurt and vulnerable, and not at all intimidating. 

“You seem confused?”

“I was just thinking ... you wouldn’t do anything ... nasty to Garranon, would you?”

“What? Why would I?”

“You are jealous, and, as you have proven this morning, very powerful.” Thinking about it, it really was quite scary. Though she had to make a conscious effort to be scared. 

Oreg seemed hurt. “I would not ... it wouldn’t help me in any way. Ward would still like him better than me.”

“That is true. Even though I don’t really believe that. In his way, Ward is very fond of you. He is very protective of you.”

“He is protective of everyone.”

Shianna didn’t know what to reply, because it was true.


	10. Chapter 10

Ward was a little surprised when he opened the door of his room and saw Garranon. “What brings you here? You said you wanted to leave as soon as possible?” He tried to sound merely curious, though he was more than a bit nervous. What did Garranon know? The fact that Oreg had not found anything suspicious in his room, was no proof of innocence. 

“I just wanted to say thank you”, Garranon smiled kindly. “Which I already did, of course, but ... I was a bit surprised that you changed your mind.”

“You have got me there. It was not just that she was caught stealing, as I told you. It is ... I do have a younger brother, too. I understand what you are going through. And that slave ... before she got into a fight with one of my guards, she didn’t have any wounds, so I guess her master doesn’t mistreat her too badly ...” Ward shrugged. “You are a decent man, and now that I know what you are going through ... I thought I’d make it a bit easier for you.”

“Have you thought about my offer?”

“What?!”

“My offer. To talk to that ... young man. I am sure I could convince him that you are not like ... a certain other man I know. The difference is quite obvious to a man with my experience.”

“Oh, that. Thank you very much, I appreciate it, but I don’t think it would help. Not unless you revealed ... and I think that is best kept secret.”

Garranon nodded. “You may be right. Nevertheless ... I owe you. If there is anything I can do for you ... my influence on the king is not as great as you may have heard, but I still can do something.”

“I will send a messenger if I am ever in need. Now, I don’t want to detain you any longer ... ah, yes, what I wanted to tell you: Be careful with your brother. He is a troublemaker. I know the kind, my cousin Beckram is the same. The kind of man that gets himself into trouble on a regular basis. It’s be best to keep a close eye on him, and not trust his claims that he’s not involved in anything too much.” It was as much warning as Ward dared give, in case Garranon was involved, too. 

“Yes. I know. I shall try to keep him away from Ciernack. It’s bad company he is keeping there.” Garranon sighed. “I am very much indebted to you for your help in this.”


	11. Chapter 11

Soon after the guests had departed, Ward announced his intention to ride to Tyrfannig, but refused to tell anyone for what reason. Oh, he claimed to want to order a shipment of seashells, but that didn’t fool Oreg. There was no need to do that in person. 

In the morning on which Ward intended to ride, Oreg waited until he was awake, then appeared in his room. “I can get you there faster.”

“Where?” Ward blinked sleepily. 

“Tyrfannig.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Let me show you. May I ... touch your arm?”

Ward lifted his arm, and Oreg touched it, reveling in the warmth. “Don’t be startled.”

When they stood in the cave with the dragon bones, Ward was startled despite the warning. It showed in the blank expression on his face. He was thinking. 

He gestured towards the ground and walls, where, in the dim light, there were stains of what was unmistakeably dried blood. “Whose blood is that?” 

Not the question Oreg had expected. “Bastilla’s, mostly.”

“Ah. Good.” 

The relief on Ward’s face made him feel all warm inside. Shianna was right. Ward did care for him, at least. 

“You can get us to Tyrfannig like that? Because I would like to dress properly before that.” Ward looked down on his nightgown. 

Oreg laughed. “I would guess so. No, not to Tyrfannig, that is too far. But to the very borders of Hurog land. It would be a short ride from there. What do you want to do there?”

“Order seashells ...”

“Someone else could do that.”

“Well ... keep it a secret, please. I will also look for Tosten. I know he is alive, and in Tyrfannig, but I don’t know in what condition I will find him. I don’t want Ciarra to know – if he’s ... if he’s like mother, then I ...”

“I understand. I can bring you to the border, and wait for you there.”   
“Can you transport horses that way?” Ward stared at him in disbelief, as if that seemed somehow more impossible. 

Oreg smiled. “There are horses smaller than you. Of course I can. But you will want to choose a horse that trusts you and is not easily frightened.” 

“Two horses”, Ward corrected absent-mindedly. “I hope to bring Tosten with me when I return. Now ... would you return me to my room? It is a bit cold down here.”

“Of course.” 

 

About a hour later, Oreg knocked hesitantly at Shianna’s door. Maybe he should not impose himself on her quite so often. She might come to resent him. Still ... he felt more comfortable talking to her than he would with Ciarra, ironically. Ciarra was mute, but she also was a child. She should not be burdened with his worries. 

Shianna was ... not much older, but he had not seen her grow up, and there was part of him that still was the boy he had been before his father had turned him into ... this. 

“Who is there?”

“It’s me.”

“Do come in.”

He didn’t wait for her to open the door, she knew she need not. 

“It’s a good thing that this whole ... um, slave thing is resolved, isn’t it?” Shianna asked cheerfully. “Look – I have gotten quite far with my embroidery.”

Oreg took a good look at it. Amusingly, now that the rough form was evident, it looked a bit like his own dragon form might have looked, or at least he thought so. Blues and violets. “It’s beautiful. I can hardly believe you never saw a dragon with your own eyes.”

“I had some wall hangings and book illustrations to work with. But you are worried. What is it?”

“Ward. I just ... he hasn’t been away from here since he inherited and ... I can’t protect him out there.”

“He is the tallest man in Hurog.” Shianna smiled. “And he’s almost as good with a sword as Stala is. I don’t think he is in much danger from random robbers and the like.”

“That’s true but ... he’s too kind and trusting. He never once suspected that I might want to harm him.”

“You have always been here”, Shianna pointed out. “It would not make sense for you to start to work against him, now.”

 

This was the same reason, Shianna realized, why she had not been very upset about learning what Oreg could do. He had been there all this time, and had always been able to listen to private conversations and all that, and had never once harmed someone. Well, except for that one time, when Lady Duraugh had slapped Ciarra, but the lady had just been scared out of her wits, and as far as Shianna was concerned, she deserved that. 

“I guess so. Still. He didn’t even ask what I can do.”

Now that he mentioned it, it really was an interesting question. “What can you do?”

“I can kill people. Some ... concluded from my ability to stay invisible that I would make a good murderer.” Oreg stared into empty space. “I don’t like to kill innocent people, but if anyone harms Ward, then I am more than capable ...”

“Wouldn’t you have to obey Tosten, in that case?”, Shianna mused, only realizing a moment later that she shouldn’t refer quite so flippantly to Oreg’s enslavement. . 

“I guess so” Oreg murmured. “But Tosten should want to avenge his brother.”

“He should”, Shianna agreed. Better she didn’t mention that Tosten might be the murderer. When she had last seen him, he had been a nice boy, but then, most men probably started out as nice boys, and few grow up to be nice men. “But I don’t think anyone would be stupid enough to mess with the Hurogmeten.”

“Probably not.” Oreg shook his head. “Still, I don’t like it. Him being away.”

“Has that something to do with the magic that binds you to him?” 

“No. I should be fine as long as I stay in Hurog. I always was when his father was away, and ... well, everyone. I just ... miss him.”

He looked so lost that she just wanted to hug him. And he didn’t look like a deathly assassin at all. She didn’t doubt his words, she had witnessed him kill a man, but still. 

“He will be back soon.”

She didn’t know at the time how true her words were. Ward returned early indeed, it was only early afternoon when Oreg suddenly looked much less tense. “He’s back. On Hurog land.”

After that, he was able to concentrate on his embroidery, and often smiled, as if he knew of good news she didn’t know about. 

“He will be home soon”, Oreg announced in the early evening. “I will go and fetch Ciarra to meet him at the gates.”

Shianna frowned. Ward hadn’t been away that long. Not long enough for everyone to run to the gates to greet him, surely. Maybe Oreg knew of something she didn’t know.   
She decided to walk to the gates and see for herself. 

And see she did.


	12. Chapter 12

Ciarra ran like lightning, and hurled herself at the man standing beside Ward – her long-lost brother Tosten. 

Tosten, it turned out, had not run away, but had been taken to Tyrfannig by Ward. He had become a bard there, and quite a good one. To Shianna’s relief, he was much the same nice boy whose disappearance had caused Lady Muellen, and, to a lesser extent, Shianna, too, so much grief. 

One of those days, when everyone was still rejoicing at Tosten’s return, Ward asked Shianna to accompany him to the forests. “I need someone to talk to”, he said quietly. “And talking to Garranon was not such a smart move, in hindsight.”

She agreed, because she liked Ward, and had no reason to suspect a lie. Only after they had left the castle grounds, she started to wonder why he didn’t just talk to his brother. Or maybe Axiel.   
And why they needed to leave the castle. 

“I have been thinking about leaving Hurog”, Ward said quietly when they entered the canopy of the forest. 

“What? But ... but you’re the Hurogmeten!”

“Technically, uncle Duraugh is taking care of that. And Tosten may be able to take over.”

“But why? Don’t you like it here?” Oreg would be heartbroken! And that was probably why they were out here; so that Oreg could not overhear their conversation. 

“That is not – I love Hurog, always did. It’s Oreg. He is nervous around me, and I can guess why. You know him well, tell me, do you think he would feel less like a slave, with his master removed from the castle?”

“I don’t know.” What she knew was that he would feel miserable, but telling Ward this would be betraying Oreg’s trust in her. 

“It is worth a try. I could relocate to the high king’s court. Keep an eye on Beckram. I heard he’s been having an affair with the queen.”

The prospect obviously didn’t appeal to Ward. And yet, he would do it, she had no doubt. 

There was only one explanation. “You love him.” Shianna said slowly “You love Oreg.”

“No”, Ward replied in a quiet voice. “I don’t love him.”

Shianna could hardly have been more heartbroken if he had rejected herself. Poor Oreg! He deserved a bit happiness. And Ward’s actions so far had seemed to hint at his at least being very fond of Oreg. 

“So, you plan to leave your home to make a man you don’t even love feel a little better?”

“I might come to love him, eventually, if I stayed here, but then, maybe not. I am no fool, Lady Shianna, nor am I innocent. I know that king Jakoven takes young boys to his bed, and I suspect they don’t get to choose whether they want to. And it is not unlikely that one of my ancestors did the same. I have to protect Oreg from that ever happening again, at all costs.”

“He is quite capable of taking care of himself.” Shianna frowned. All this didn’t make much sense, except ...

“I don’t love Oreg, I am in love with him. And therefore, I have to leave. Before he finds out. He cannot protect himself from me.”

Slowly, she felt her frown turn into a broad smile. “You are a sweet boy, Lord Wardwick.”

“This is not funny.”

“You really think you are in danger of forcing yourself on Oreg?”

“No. I ... I dread him finding out. He is already wary of me, and if he knew what I feel if ... if he only so much as touches my arm ...”

“You don’t think he might be pleased?”

Ward shook his head. “After generations of my family tortured him? I don’t think so. He might feel enough gratitude to ... to ... no, I don’t even want to think about it. Besides ...” And now it was Ward’s turn to frown. “I thought you and him ...”

“You are thinking too much, my Lord. I regard him as the son I never had, strange as it may seem, considering his real age.” She cleared her throat. “And don’t you even think of leaving Hurog. The people need you. Tosten is a nice boy, but he will be happier playing the harp and becoming a better bard than he would be ruling Hurog. And Oreg would be miserable if you left. He was constantly worried that harm could come to you while you were in Tyrfannig.”

Ward nodded. “He didn’t know then that Tosten was alive and of sound mind. But now, once he gets to know Tosten, I think he will not dread losing me so much anymore.”

Shianna sighed, frustrated. How could she get it into Ward’s thick skull that Oreg liked him? 

“I shall talk to him. But I am quite sure he doesn’t want you to leave. And you ask Tosten. I think he’s enjoying it quite a bit to be back home, and be able to act more like a child again. He was, how old? Fifteen? He had to grow up too fast.”

“You are right. I could ask uncle Duraugh to take my place until Tosten is of age. That will require him to stay here longer, but I think I can convince him.”

She shook her head. “Are you sure you don’t love Oreg? You seem to be ready to sacrifice a lot for him.”

“As I should. No one can ever make up for what was done to him. Though you may be right, my feelings may play some part in my decision ...” 

“And you think being loved like this is the worst that could happen to him?”

“Not the worst. But something bad. I apologize if my words sound condescending, given that you are many years my senior, but I have had opportunity to observe that love, in the sense the word is commonly used in, is not always a noble feeling that justifies itself. And much less is it always welcome.”

“Oh, I agree. You remember my ‘friend’, and the unfortunate accident that happened to him? Still, I think ... well, I will tell Oreg about your intentions to leave, and see how he reacts.”

“Thank you.”

 

“Ward told me”, Shianna said casually when Oreg visited her the next time. “That he has a mind to go to the royal court.”

“The court?”

“Yes, he said he wants to look after his cousin Beckram, who’s a terrible flirt and has been flirting with the queen.”

“How long? I think I’ll miss you; it was nice to have someone to talk to, other than Ciarra ... I don’t suppose he’ll bring Ciarra? He shouldn’t, I couldn’t protect the two of them there.”

“Oh, he seems to intend to go alone. Without you. I was worried you might not like that.”

“He wants to go to that wolves’ den on his own?!” The piece of embroidery he was working on fell from Oreg’s hands. “No way!” He vanished, leaving the unfinished work behind him. 

Shianna picked it up and smiled. It seemed he would give Ward a piece of his mind. 

 

Ward almost cut himself in the finger with the knife he was using to cut his nails. “Oreg? Is something the matter?”

“You know perfectly well what the matter is! Shianna just told me!”

Gods! She couldn’t have! He had told her that Oreg mustn’t know!

“Or do you deny that you intend to go to the high king’s court – all alone!?”

“Well, yes, I may have mentioned something to that effect.” Why on earth was Oreg so upset if Shianna had only told him that? 

“You are not just the Hurogmeten’s stupid son any more! You are the Hurogmeten! You can’t just walk into that wolves’ den of backstabbing, scheming nobles all on your own! If you go there, I will go with you.”

“Oreg, you need not be worried. I don’t intend to start an affair with the queen, or something stupid like that. In the unlikely event that I manage to get myself killed, nothing will change for you. I will make Tosten swear to treat you well.”

“I can be useful! Shianna told me that you want to keep an eye on your cousin. I can help you with that! I’m a very good spy!”

Ward felt all warm inside, but reminded himself to keep his wits together. “Oreg ... is there something you haven’t told me? Is being away from that ring painful for you?”

“Don’t try to play dumb with me! I know you aren’t. You may not like it, but you know damn well that I ...” Oreg paused. “You know that I like you”, he continued in a quiet voice. 

Well, of course he liked him, it would be hard not to. Pansy liked him, too, he had been the first one who had been nice to the stallion, and maybe the first one in a century to be nice to Oreg. 

“Is that it?” Oreg continued. “Are you running away from me? I noticed that you avoid me, ever since Shianna told you that I like your ... your touch. I am sorry, I never meant to incommode you, but ... please, please, don’t torture me like that. If you must run away from me, go to your uncle’s estate, or, or somewhere, but not to the court.”

“Shianna told me that you like my touch?” Ward didn’t recall anything like this. In fact, he recalled that Shianna told him that ... “She said it embarrassed you.”

Oreg avoided his gaze. “It did. And doubtlessly, you have concluded why I was embarrassed to be in the company of a lady while you ... that’s why you avoid me now.”

Had Shianna not mentioned that Oreg had disliked it? He raked his memory for the words she had used, but found nothing. 

“I know as well as any man that physical pleasure is not the same as ... liking something. And you think I avoid you because of this?”

“What else am I to think when you ask me to leave the room before you undress for a bath? You have never done that with Axiel ... or even Ciarra.”

Ward felt his cheeks heat. “Well, they, they don’t mind. And I thought that ... I do never undress in front of one of the maids, you know? It could give a ... wrong impression of my intentions. I know I’m intimidating.”

“I am not a maid of sixteen summers. I have seen hundreds of winters come and go. Do you think I cannot tell innocent nudity from lewd intent?”

“I ...” Ward fell silent when he realized that Oreg’s posture had changed. Gone was the self-assured, tall man who had been telling him off. Standing before him was a scared boy, with empty gaze. 

“I don’t think that would be appropriate”, he murmured. “I am sure, my Lord, we should not ... think of your wife ...”

Ward shook off his shocked rigour and gently touched the wall, hoping that Oreg could be able to tell that it was a different kind of touch. “Oreg? That’s past. You are safe.”

Oreg squirmed some more, but then, finally, blinked, and seemed to see Ward again. “I am sorry. It just ... you reminded me ...”

“Don’t apologize. I am the one who should be sorry. I did the very thing I tried to avoid.”

“Oh.” Oreg stared at him. “That is why ... you tried to protect me? But you need not have worried, I like it when you ... when you touch the walls.” A shy smile appeared on his face. “It just makes me ... nervous if a man touches this body.” He gestured towards his own body. “But even that was never much of a problem with you. I know I can trust you.”

Ward felt happier than ever since his early childhood. “Yes. I might have avoided you out of fear that you might feel cornered. I like you very much.” Now, lots of things made sense. “When you were so upset about me talking to Garranon ... were you ... jealous?”

Oreg nodded. 

“What irony! I ... I told him about my feelings for you, you know? I thought he might be able to help me understand ...”

“Your feelings?” Oreg made a hesitant step towards him. “You mean ...?”

“I told him that I feel attracted to you, and that ... that I feel I’m exploiting your gratitude if ...”

“Exploiting? You never asked anything of me that I would not gladly do.”

“If I told you that I want a hug ... would you feel you owe me that? Would you even dare to refuse?`”

“I would dare. I dared tell you that I don’t want you to leave, remember?” Oreg grinned mischievously. “Do you want a hug?”

“Of course I want ...” He did not get to finish the sentence, as Oreg had thrown both arms around him and hugged him. 

“I don’t like to be touched”, Oreg explained. “But I like to touch you. You are so warm.”

“Am I? You don’t feel as cold as I would have a ghost expected to, either.” Ward just stood there, arms pressed to his body, and reveled in the sensation of Oreg’s warm body touching him. 

“I always am cold, though”, Oreg murmured. “Except when I touch someone. The cold is inside.”


	13. Chapter 13

Shianna felt a surge of warmth. It was not unpleasant, not at all, but suddenly, the room felt so much more cozy, as if the fire was much larger than it actually was. She looked around, but found nothing suspicious. It must be Oreg who was doing it. Had he noticed that someone was cold? But he was talking to Ward ... oh. 

She smiled. The talk must be going very well, if it made Oreg feel like this. The warmth didn’t feel angry or embarassed. Just ... happy. 

And sure enough, some time later Oreg reappeared, a dreamy, happy expression on his face. “He likes me!”

“How much, exactly?”, Shianna asked, suppressing a grin. 

“A lot.” Oreg blushed. “Thank you for telling me about his plans. I never would have guessed ... “

“He told me that he is in love with you”, Shianna admitted. “I just thought it would not be proper, seeing as he had told me in confidence ...”

“And you didn’t tell him that I love him, because I had confided in you ...” Oreg laughed. “Thank you. I knew my secrets are safe with you. It must have been hard, listening to him say this, and not tell him.” 

“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t talked to him now”, she admitted. “I could only hope that your shock at the idea that he might leave would make him understand.”

 

 

Ward walked up and down in his room. Had he done the right thing? On one hand, Oreg seemed happy. On the other hand ... he had no choice, had he? Ward had been the first one in hundred years, maybe more, who had been kind to him. Of course he would ... but there was Shianna. Oreg was friends with her, and hadn’t fallen in love with her. So maybe ... 

“Are you nervous?”

“A bit”, he admitted. Hearing Oreg’s voice had made it better in an instant. 

“Why? I don’t bite.” Oreg laughed. 

“I know. It’s just ... I ... I guess I still feel like I’m taking advantage of your situation.”

“Then don’t.” He heard steps, then he felt Oreg’s arms around his body. “I told you I don’t like being touched. Just ... let me touch you.”  
A warm shiver ran through him, the exact opposite of what the touch of a ghost should cause, if you believed the tales. 

“You didn’t do anything I didn’t want. Why are you worried?”

“Just ... just if ... love doesn’t always last forever, and you can’t leave. I ... I promise I will leave Hurog and never return, if you want me to do so.”

“I can’t imagine I could ever want that”, Oreg murmured. “But I accept your promise.”

“Alright.” 

They stood there some time, until Oreg said, quietly “When I said I didn’t like to be touched, I meant this body.”

Reluctantly, Ward lifted his hand, and touched the wall hanging closest to him. “Do you like this?”

Oreg’s hands wandered a bit lower on his belly in response. “Very. Have you ever been with a woman?”

“Um, to be honest ... no. Not in the way you probably mean.” With his first love, things had never progressed to that point before she got married, and with the women who only desired him for his body, he didn’t dare be intimate, for fear he would forget his mask in the heat of the moment. “Is that a problem?”

“No. Making love to me won’t be anything like that. I just wanted you to know that.”

“I don’t know ... what you are doing with your hands right now feels a lot like how some ladies at court tried to seduce me.” Just a lot better, because this was Oreg, and he could trust him.

Oreg laughed softly. “They tried?”

“Well, I misunderstood their intent on purpose, of course. It helped convince people that I must really be stupid – no sane man would reject a beautiful woman, you see?”

“I see. Now, did those ladies try ... this?” Oreg’s hands were now under his tunic, undoing his shirt. 

“No, they ... were not ... that ... adventurous.” Talking became increasingly difficult, as did thinking. “Show me how you... want me to ... touch you.”

Oreg took his hand, and guided it towards the selvedge of the wall hanging. 

“Only the stone is really part of ... me. Most decoration was added later.”

Ward nodded, and began to play with the edge of the wall hanging, teasingly. 

Now, Oreg stopped talking, too. Ward slipped his hand under the wall hanging and touched the rough stone. 

The loud moan startled him. He turned around, and caught Oreg, just before Oreg’s knees gave in. “What happened?”

“Nothing, I ... I ... so good. Too good.”

Oreg’s blissful smile convinced Ward that there was no need to worry. They could talk later. He gently lowered Oreg down on the bed, and returned his attention to the walls, all the while keeping an eye on Oreg. 

 

“How is this possible?”, he asked later, when he was lying on the bed, too. “I mean ... it feels the same for you, regardless of ... which wall, doesn`t it?

“It does.” Oreg cuddled up against him. “It is ... let me show you.”

He touched Ward’s cheek. “Does that feel good?”

“Yes ...”

“And this?” He caressed Ward’s lips with this thumb. 

“Very good.”

“Your touch feels like that. Most other people rather feel like that.” He rubbed Ward’s cheek as if removing a stain. “And I know you are doing it on purpose ... don’t worry, I don’t get that excited every time.”

“I see. But it doesn’t hurt you when the castle is damaged?”

“No, I don’t feel that in the way I feel touch. It is ... numb. Maybe the best comparison is a very slight slap. One that insults more than it hurts”


End file.
